He has attained the first resurrection from the dead. When Jesus comes, there is no need for him to be reviewed and evaluated. He has been continuously reviewed and evaluated throughout his lifetime on the earth. He is ready now to be invested with Divine authority and power. The crown of life is his.

But if the individual makes a profession of Christ and is baptized in water, and then turns again to the world, he will be worse off than if he had never started in the way of righteousness. He is as a dog returning to its vomit (II Peter 2:22). He is not abiding in Christ, in eternal life. He is walking in eternal death. The Divine condemnation rests on him as well as on all who are practicing sin, whether or not they make a profession of faith in Christ (Romans 2:6-11).

What would have happened to the young man of the Quonset hut and the flipped-open Bible if he had promptly proceeded to forget God's law; to despise God's commandments; to allow mercy and truth to forsake him? Would the Lord have continued to bless him and then have received him into glory? Not if the Apostle Paul has written the truth of God!

God will chasten the sinning Christian and work with him. Trouble will come on him. If he repents, Christ will lead him toward growth in the Spirit. But if he rebels against the Spirit of God, choosing instead to pursue the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life, he will be cut out of the vine (John 15:2).

Most Christian people appear to be somewhere in between the two extremes. They are not living as hundredfold overcomers; neither are they walking totally in the flesh and disobeying God in every area of their lives. They are lukewarm and will receive the reward of lukewarmness.

What the majority of believers must understand is that we will be judged according to our conduct in the world. The reality of judgment and rewards should cause us to think seriously of the quality of our Christian walk.

The wrath of God hovers over the nations of the earth in the present hour. The righteous scarcely will be saved in the days to come. All of us need to repent, confess our sins, and turn again to the Lord.

God's grace in Christ is not primarily a ticket to Heaven, although it may function that way in the case of a last-minute, deathbed repentance and confession of faith.

Rather, God's grace in Christ is our opportunity to escape the authority and power of sin and to choose to serve righteousness; to press vigorously into the Kingdom of God, into the doing of God's will in the earth as it is in Heaven. Being a saint requires all of our strength and attention, not just a token service while the main interests and efforts of our life are elsewhere.

To be continued.